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I grew up in Sudbury MA, and want to relocate. I love the nature of this area, with many places to walk, run and spend time outside. I want the same environment but with much higher racial diversity, and access to art communities and events, hopefully still within an hour of the ocean. So I don't want a super urban feel, but I want some of the features that a city offers. Any suggestions for places in MA that would fit that? Thank you!
What "features of the city" do you want? Are you basically looking for Sudbury with a better town center? Milton checks many of the boxes, but there's not much "urban" about it at all and there's no great town center. The Milton Village area on the edge of town abuts Lower Mills which has a handful of restaurants. There's also a section of town that abuts Mattapan Square which is an ungentrified stretch of shopping/restaurants. East Milton Square is also a tiny urban pocket. But none have all that much going on.
I Like the Lexington suggestion. It has a defined, clear town center with a good deal of shopping and dining. It also has the Minuteman bikeway going through it which is excellent for walking/running and Arlington's Great Meadows (largely in Lexington despite the name) and Whipple Hill are really peaceful places to be outside.
Winchester and Melrose have great town centers but are also not super high density and are located on opposite ends of Middlesex Fells from each other. The Fells is awesome for hiking, biking, and being outside. Beverly is another option as it has beaches in town, a nice town center, and several parks and conservation areas in town and nearby.
My white collar 495 wooded suburb kids soccer team has kids with Black, Arab, Chinese, Indian, LGBTQ, and disabled families. Is that the diversity OP desires or socioeconomic?
What "features of the city" do you want? Are you basically looking for Sudbury with a better town center? Milton checks many of the boxes, but there's not much "urban" about it at all and there's no great town center. The Milton Village area on the edge of town abuts Lower Mills which has a handful of restaurants. There's also a section of town that abuts Mattapan Square which is an ungentrified stretch of shopping/restaurants. East Milton Square is also a tiny urban pocket. But none have all that much going on.
East Milton Square is the town center for all intents and purposes. You have Quincy and Boston right next door for all they have to offer. Milton has the Blue Hills and tons of open space, plenty of breathing room to spread out like Sudbury (although most of the actual neighborhoods will be more congested). Like I said no place is 100%, but I think Milton is as close as you can get.
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Originally Posted by lrfox
I Like the Lexington suggestion. It has a defined, clear town center with a good deal of shopping and dining. It also has the Minuteman bikeway going through it which is excellent for walking/running and Arlington's Great Meadows (largely in Lexington despite the name) and Whipple Hill are really peaceful places to be outside.
Winchester and Melrose have great town centers but are also not super high density and are located on opposite ends of Middlesex Fells from each other. The Fells is awesome for hiking, biking, and being outside. Beverly is another option as it has beaches in town, a nice town center, and several parks and conservation areas in town and nearby.
These are all crowded inner suburbs, nothing at all like Sudbury despite the fact that they abut public lands. I'm not aware of diversity in any of those towns, other than Lexington which I guess has a lot of Asians working in tech/med. Beverly might have a mix of urban/suburban and rural, but the rural parts are super exclusive. It's also still lily white from what I know, despite some more economic diversity than these other places mentioned.
Milton meets both requirements. Parts of it have an urban feel and there is plenty of nature - blue hills, Cunningham park, Turner's pond, houghtons pond just to name a few.
East Milton Square is the town center for all intents and purposes. You have Quincy and Boston right next door for all they have to offer. Milton has the Blue Hills and tons of open space, plenty of breathing room to spread out like Sudbury (although most of the actual neighborhoods will be more congested). Like I said no place is 100%, but I think Milton is as close as you can get.
There's not much to East Milton Square at all. I wouldn't even bother touting it as a destination if I'm trying to sell anyone on Milton. If shopping/dining are the "city amenities" the OP is looking for, they're going to likely be heading outside of the city limits. Thankfully, Quincy Center is coming along nicely and is only about 5 minutes from East Milton Square. Anywhere worth going in Boston is a bit more of a drive and not really akin to being in-town. Yes, no place is 100% but you seem to be set on Milton being on the only fit. I think it checks most boxes, but unless the OP comes in and clarifies a little, I don't know how anyone can say it's Milton and there's no room for any other considerations.
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These are all crowded inner suburbs, nothing at all like Sudbury despite the fact that they abut public lands. I'm not aware of diversity in any of those towns, other than Lexington which I guess has a lot of Asians working in tech/med. Beverly might have a mix of urban/suburban and rural, but the rural parts are super exclusive. It's also still lily white from what I know, despite some more economic diversity than these other places mentioned.
"Crowded" is subjective and places like Melrose and Winchester are downright quaint compared to nearby urban suburbs like Medford, most of Arlington, Malden, etc. But Lexington has exactly the same population density as Milton (which by the way, are both more than twice as dense as Sudbury - hence why we need the OP to clarify a bit). It has a much better and more active town center than Milton does, and it's comparable on the diversity front (less white, more Indian and Chinese whereas Milton is whiter than Lexington but also has a larger black population). The OP may very well prefer Milton, but it's absolutely a contender based on the info we have to work with.
OP is also asking for diversity of residents, that's where Newburyport, Gloucester and Beverly wouldn't be great. I think Milton and Lexington are actually better in this regard. Lexington is pretty pricey, even for eastern Mass tho. Milton is not cheap, but is more affordable.
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